Report: April saw massive decline in card volume; Ohio fares best for faster recovery

A new report released by The Strawhecker Group, the world’s largest analytics and consulting firm focused on the payments acceptance industry, revealed the economic toll faced by small businesses throughout the month of April as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

When comparing the card processing volume of over one million credit and debit card-accepting merchants throughout the United States in April to their performance in February, the study found that 25% of all merchants experienced a drop of over 56% in card volume. Half of all businesses in the country lost at least 19% of their volume.

“When viewed in totality, the drop of card volume is staggering”, said Mike Strawhecker, President of TSG. “But it gets even more informative as you dissect the data by industry and geography. For example, half of the retail merchants in California lost at least 51% of their card volume when comparing April to February. For comparison, half of the retailers in New York lost at least 69% of their card volume. Personal Services and Dine-in Restaurants fared even worse in both states.”

The Strawhecker Group also took a more detailed look at the data for the country’s ten largest states.

“When you overlay spend metrics with economic data such as the percent of payroll that received a PPP loan in each state, it may provide insight as to what states and which industries may ‘snapback’ faster than others”, added Strawhecker.

These calculations determined that Ohio is in the best position for a potentially faster economic recovery. Pennsylvania ranked second in the Strawhecker calculations, followed by Texas and Georgia. Michigan tied for seventh.